Nanotech could make humans immortal by 2040
Nanobots will soon wipe out cancer, back up memories and slow aging
By Stella Law

In 30 or 40 years, we'll have microscopic machines traveling through our bodies, repairing damaged cells and organs, effectively wiping out diseases. The nanotechnology will also be used to back up our memories and personalities.
 

未来几十年，我们将使用微型机器进入我们的身体，修复受损的细胞和器官，有效地消灭疾病。纳米技术将用于备份我们的记忆和个性。
 

Anyone alive come 2040 or 2050 could be close to immortal. The quickening advance of nanotechnology means that the human condition will shift into more of a collaboration of man and machine, as nanobots flow through human blood streams and eventually even replace biological blood.
 

到2040年或2050年时任何人都可能接近不朽。纳米技术的快速发展意味着人类的状况将转变为人与机器的更多合作，因为纳米机器人流经人体血液并最终甚至取代生物血液。

That may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but research well underway today is leading to a time when a combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology will wipe out cancer, Alzheimer's disease, obesity and diabetes.
 

这是激进的生命延伸。纳米机器人全面实现后将基本消除生物疾病和衰老。30或40年后，我们将战胜疾病和衰老。纳米机器人将侦察需要修理的器官和细胞并简单地修复它们。它将促成我们的健康和长寿。“
 

It'll also be a time when humans will augment their natural cognitive powers and add years to their lives.
 

当然，人们仍会被闪电击中或被公共汽车撞击，但更多的创伤将是可以修复的。如果纳米机器人取代生物血液，那么伤口几乎可以立即愈合。四肢可以重新生长。头部创伤后可以重获记忆。

It's radical life extension. The full realization of nanobots will basically eliminate biological disease and aging. I think we'll see widespread use in 20 years of [nanotech] devices that perform certain functions for us. In 30 or 40 years, we will overcome disease and aging. The nanobots will scout out organs and cells that need repairs and simply fix them. It will lead to profound extensions of our health and longevity.
 

Of course, people will still be struck by lightning or hit by a bus, but much more trauma will be repairable. If nanobots swim in, or even replace biological blood, then wounds could be healed almost instantly. Limbs could be regrown. Backed up memories and personalities could be accessed after a head trauma.
 

Today, researchers at MIT are already using nanoparticles to deliver killer genes that battle late-stage cancer. The university reported just last month the nano-based treatment killed ovarian cancer, which is considered to be one of the deadliest cancers, in mice.

近年来，由于医疗技术的发展，科学家们不断探索出治疗癌症的新途径。近日，麻省理工学院的研究人员开发出了纳米粒子，可以携带抗癌药物血脑屏障进入大脑，或许可以治疗成胶质细胞瘤。
 

And earlier this year, scientists at the University of London reported using nanotechnology to blast cancer cells in mice with "tumour busting" genes, giving new hope to patients with inoperable tumours. So far, tests have shown that the new technique leaves healthy cells undamaged.
 

英国科学家如今研究出一种纳米靶向疗法，有望将好坏细胞区别对待。 英国伦敦大学医学院一个科研小组通过对动物活体实验发现，如果利用纳米技术能够将一组基因送到患者的病灶处，在不破坏正常细胞的前提下杀死癌细胞，将是癌症治疗手段的重大突破。

With this kind of work going on now, by 2024 we'll be adding a year to our life expectancy with every year that passes. "The sense of time will be running in and not running out," he added. "Within 15 years, we will reverse this loss of remaining life expectancy. We will be adding more time than is going by."
 

And in 35 to 40 years, we will basically be immortal. Adding microscopic machines to our bodies won't make us any less human than we are today or were 500 years ago.
 

"The definition of human is that we are the species that go beyond our limitations and change who we are," he said. "If that wasn't the case, you and I wouldn't be around because at one point of life expectancy was 23. We've extended ourselves in many ways. This is an extension of who we are. Ever since we picked up a stick to reach a higher branch, we've extended who we are through tools. It's the nature of human beings to change who we are."

But that doesn't mean there aren't parts of this future that don't worry him. With nanotechnology so advanced that it can travel through our bodies and affect great change on them, come dangers, as well as benefits.
 

The nanobots, he explained, will be self-replicating and engineers will have to harness and contain that replication.


"You could have some self-replicating nanobot that could create copies of itself... and ultimately, within 90 replications, it could devour the body it's in or all humans if it becomes a non-biological plague". "Technology is not a utopia. It's a double-edged sword and always has been since we first had fire.

可能会有一些自我复制的纳米机器人可以创造自己的副本，最终，在90次重复中，如果它成为一种非生物性的瘟疫，它可能吞噬它所在的身体或所有人类”。